WASHINGTON – Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif., is calling for a congressional investigation of the Oklahoma City bombing because of evidence of a foreign connection and a conspiracy broader than Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols.

The focus of the probe, he suggests, should be “Was there a foreign connection to the Oklahoma City bombing?”

“The official position today, defended by the FBI and Justice Department, is that the OKC bombing, which left 168 persons dead, was planned and executed solely by two disgruntled veterans, Timothy McVeigh, Terry Nichols, with the limited involvement of Michael Fortier,” writes Rohrabacher. “After my inquiry I have concluded that others were involved and that information about the bombing is being kept from the public and from the Congress. The jurisdiction of my Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations extends only to the possible international and foreign involvement in the crime. Even within that framework there is ample evidence to justify an investigative hearing.”

The congressman said there are two major targets of inquiry which indicate a foreign connection to the OKC bombing:

“First, Terry Nichols and, to some degree, Timothy McVeigh appear to have had contact with Arab, Muslim, or Middle Eastern terrorist elements prior to and during the implementation of the bomb plot,” he wrote. “Second, just as significant, there is evidence of a personal relationship between Timothy McVeigh and Andreas Carl Strassmeier, a German national who was promoting violent insurrection to white supremacists at their nearby stronghold called Elohim City.”

Rohrabacher concludes in his memo to Hyde: “(I)t is highly likely that the Arab connection and or the Strassmeier connection played a significant role in the planning and execution of the murderous bombing of the OKC federal building. In both possible scenarios, the official investigation fell short and further investigation has been discouraged ever since.”

He suggested a one-day or two-day hearing and suggested subpoenas be issued to former FBI Director Louis Freeh and former Attorney General Janet Reno.

“The bombing of the OKC federal building was the greatest slaughter of innocent Americans until 9/11,” Rohrabacher writes. “It is possible there was an al-Qaida connection. It is possible there was a Strassmeier connection. There is ample reason to disbelieve the official version of this horrific crime. It is up to us to begin setting the record straight.”

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